


Aloha Popoki (Hello Kitty)

by SBG



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Family Feels, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-17 10:29:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2306432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SBG/pseuds/SBG
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Steve acquires a cat and Danny acquires a Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set mid-to-late S2 through early S3.
> 
> Okay, I admit it. This story totally indulges my love of all things feline. I'm an equal opportunity animal lover, hand on heart I would have a menagerie if I could afford it, but for some reason here it was cat or nothing. Also, the intent was for this to be a quick 3K fic, tops, but the crazy cat lady came out in me. If you're a dog person, I would ask you give this a chance. If you're a cat person, some of this might seem too, too familiar. Have to thank the little furball who ran up to me and scaled me in a flash, nearly starved and desperate for help last year before US Thanksgiving - my little Abe. I'll spare you the photo, but suffice it to say his is a face that would not be ignored. And now I will stop yammering and post the first half. The second has just been sent to LdyAnne, who will undoubtedly spot as many or more typos as she did in the first. Any errors that remain are a result of me and me alone because I'm a post-edit fiddler.

The situation Danny found himself in was not of his own doing. To make matters worse, he hadn’t even seen Steve since Friday and that meant his usual scapegoat had nothing to do with it. He couldn’t utter all sorts of imprecations behind his partner’s back, which was something he had to admit he sometimes found therapeutic. It was Grace who he was mentally cursing, and yes, he felt like a jerk for it. The simple fact was, though, he would not be having this issue had Grace not been with him at the time. From the other side of the door, he heard a pathetic sound, then moments later a weak scratching on wood. 

“Hey, now, let’s not destroy the property. I rent, I don’t own,” Danny said to the creature. The only thing he was greeted with was an even sadder yowl. “Cry all you want, it’s not going to work on me, pal.”

He could never say no to Grace, that was his problem. Or he’d say no and anyone in the vicinity could tell it was a token negative, including and especially his daughter. The thing of it was as a post-divorce father, he was a pushover. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t discipline Grace should the need ever arise – he’d lucked out in that department, his girl was as near to perfect as a child could get – but what had started out as a need to focus only on happy things during his spare time with her had become a habit kept up even as his custody increased. 

That was really how he’d ended up with this problem he knew would start out literally small, but grow proportionally until it took over his life. Grace and his inability to not do anything she asked were a powerful combination. If he hadn’t had Grace with him, he would have easily withstood the flea-ridden furball with barely a twinge of conscience. Tiny claws skittered against the tile floor, a paw darted out from under the crack. Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Of course. Of course he understood completely that this whole thing really _was_ his own fault even if he was unwilling to say so out loud. He was the one who went from cop on the job to giant marshmallow with his daughter, who had departed for Rachel’s hours ago, leaving him alone with this critter he didn’t know the first thing about.

Danny was a dog person. 

He glanced down at his forearms, the scratches on both still throbbing slightly. He had vastly underestimated the strength of his foe, making a mistake he hated when people made it with him – he’d judged based on size and size alone. Danny would have never guessed an animal that weighed maybe a pound soaking wet could inflict so much damage the way it had, and was actually glad that Grace, having imparted her internet-found wisdom of bathing the cat with baking soda, dish soap, vinegar and water to help contain the fleas until the vet visit, hadn’t been there to witness the destruction. The curses had come out of his mouth unchecked, as miniature, furry Freddy Krueger in there had shredded his skin like it was paper. Had Grace not already named it (another thing he hadn’t been able to prevent), Freddy Krueger would have been the perfect moniker for the cat he absolutely was not keeping.

“I’m coming in, I’ve got some food for you,” Danny said, softening his tone as much as possible. He wasn’t quite sure who he was trying to soothe more – himself or the cat. “Just keep those deadly weapons retracted, okay?”

Danny poked his head in first, scoping out the small space. To his surprise, the cat wasn’t anywhere to be seen. The stink of vinegar was strong, though, so he knew the cat hadn’t somehow escaped. He slid in and snicked the door shut, and a moment later he heard a tiny mew. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but the whimpering noises kept up. He peered around the edge of the vanity, found the bedraggled, skinny cat hiding behind the toilet. She was a solid deep gray with a dark nose, bright yellow eyes huge in her emaciated face as she stared up at him. Her small frame was wracked with shivers, though the bathroom was warm. Despite his canine preference, Danny’s heart went out to this poor thing.

“Aw, sweetheart.” Danny crouched, slowly reached for the cat. “C’mere. Come on out, I’m not gonna hurt you. I promise no more baths tonight.”

The cat didn’t budge. Danny slid down, back to the vanity and sat with his knees drawn up in a loose upside-down V. He set the bowl of kibble next to him and waited. He’d just as soon not spend a few hours in the bathroom, but he’d promised Grace that he wouldn’t let the cat sit in here alone all night. He sighed and looked at the ceiling. It wasn’t like Grace would ever know if he kept the cat locked up while he did pretty much anything else, but in his world a promise was a promise. 

He didn’t have to wait all that long for the cat to sniff out the food. His heart cracked a few more times at the way she skittered to the bowl, a guttural growl emitting from her as she practically inhaled the food. Danny shifted and she reared back, growling increasing in intensity, then launched herself at the bowl again. To say she was half-starved would be an understatement. Anger coiled through him. Dog person or no, it didn’t sit any better with him to think of someone tossing any animal – young, defenseless – into the wild to fend for itself. There was no doubt in his mind that this little cat had known human company, the way she’d run toward him and Grace when they’d been out for a hike, all frantic meows as she scaled up Danny like he were a tree and perched on his shoulder. 

Now cleaner but slightly more disheveled (washing the cat had been a massive feat, drying seemed next to impossible despite the warmed towels), she was no less desperate. The food was disappearing at a fast rate. The bathroom was set up to house his unexpected guest with everything she’d need, litter box, water bowl and a soft pile of towels to sleep on, but Danny hoped he wasn’t going to end up with puke everywhere for his trouble. He shook his head and wondered how the hell he was going to get out of adopting this thing. He knew Grace wanted him to. That wasn’t happening. The cat, having finished her meal, promptly climbed onto Danny’s lap, curled into a tiny, almost-weightless ball and began purring loudly. 

Danny was so screwed.

H50H50H50

“No,” Rachel said. “Absolutely not.”

Across the apartment and hopefully too distracted to pay him much attention, Grace played with the cat. In a week, the cat had already grown a fair amount, her coat had become silky and shiny and her eyes, once dulled from hunger and fear, were sharp. Too sharp, sometimes, as she was alerted to the smallest movement and oblivious to any human in her path to run and investigate it. Danny watched Grace laugh as the cat leapt at the fishing toy and missed spectacularly, only to get up a millisecond later and try again. 

“Rach, I need you to work with me, please,” Danny said. “Grace has already grown attached.”

And, well, he would never say so out loud, but in a week and even with his hectic schedule, he’d kind of grown fond of the cat himself. Not quite enough to think of her as more than “the cat”, but enough that he’d miss the bugger, though maybe not at 4:45 AM on the dot when her wet nose pressed into his closed eyes or she started kneading his neck, sharp claws digging into his skin. Still, she filled in some of the lonely gaps when Grace wasn’t around.

“Be that as it may, Daniel, the last time I worked with you I ended up with a large, somewhat rambunctious dog. Don’t forget we have that rabbit of Grace’s as well, moody thing that it is. With the baby on the way, I can assure you I don’t need another animal in this house.” Rachel sounded vaguely amused as she listed her very sound reasons. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to come up with another solution.”

“I know for a fact that Harry is well-trained.” Danny already knew he’d lost this battle by the resolve and dryness in Rachel’s tone. 

“Not the point. I know you can’t bear to disappoint Grace, but I can’t take this cat just to keep your reputation intact.”

“Rachel.”

“Find an alternate plan, Danny,” Rachel said brightly, then disconnected before she could be cajoled any more. 

Danny was willing to admit that he’d not only grown fond of the cat, but he’d been prepared to have her as a permanent resident in his home. Grace was a convenient excuse, but it was more than that. The cat was solid, unobtrusive company. It might have all worked out had the cranky old lady next door not ratted him out, claiming she was so allergic to cats that she could tell he’d acquired one. Something about air through the shared ventilation system. Danny suspected she’d actually seen the cat while nosing around while he was out. If he hadn’t finally found a great place after semi-transience, he might have flipped it back onto that meddling Mrs. Carmichael. The last thing he needed was to start a tenant war. 

“Look, Danno,” Grace called, then giggled.

Grace had taken it upon herself to get him to buy every cat toy known to humankind and was currently using one that looked like a fishing pole. She lifted her arm and swung. The cat, her jaws locked tight on the end of the toy, raised off the floor. As Danny got closer, he heard the cat growling. Now that she’d overcome so much of her fear and put on a bit of weight, her ferociousness was becoming more apparent. It was almost heartbreaking the way she attacked a toy as if it were a life and death struggle. He frowned. A week ago, she had been fighting for her life and on her way to losing, domesticated enough she wasn’t equipped to deal with life in the wild. 

“Strong jaws,” Danny said.

“She’s so light, I can barely feel her.”

It was true. The cat had gained a couple of pounds under his care, which meant if she was light as air now, then she really had been severely undernourished. Danny didn’t like the idea of taking her to a shelter when she was still so small, exposure to anything might be hard for her to shake. He liked even less having to tell Grace the news. Some small part of himself wanted to turn it on Rachel, make it be about her valid unwillingness to take in a stray cat, but how could he do that when he himself was basically turning away the cute ball of fluff that Grace loved? He smiled at the way Grace swung the cat until she finally shook off, only to launch at the toy again.

“Listen, Grace, about the cat,” Danny said. 

That was as far as he got. Grace turned her big brown eyes on him, expression earnest, and the rest got stuck in his throat. The rest of the message was unnecessary, as his daughter was smart and he liked to think she’d inherited some of his deductive reasoning skills. 

“You’re not keeping her?” Grace asked, sounding as betrayed as he’d ever heard her, and that voice had become well-versed in the past few years. “Daddy, you have to!”

“I would like nothing more than to make you happy by keeping this cat, Gracie, believe me.” 

Grace looked at him in disbelief. 

“I’d do anything for you, you know that. But you know Mrs. Carmichael from next door, remember her?”

Grace wrinkled her nose and nodded. Yeah, her deductive skills were spot on.

“Well, she says she’s allergic to cats and apparently she complained to Mr. Sing about the pet dander coming through the vents. Mr. Sing said either the cat goes, or I do,” Danny said. He ran a hand through his hair and watched as the cat chased after something invisible, banking off the furniture like a champ before tearing off down the hallway toward the bedrooms. Nearly as soon as the cat disappeared came a thump and a pathetic mewl. He almost smiled, but it wouldn’t help make this any easier. “You know how long it took me to find this place.”

“Maybe she could come live with me and Mom,” Grace said. 

“I already asked. I don’t think that’s going to work, sweetheart. You’ve got a pretty full house over there.”

“Mom said no.”

“Mom said no,” Danny said, raising his phone and waving it around to signify he’d just got done trying. “I’m sure if we take her to the shelter, another family will adopt her and she’ll be fat and happy in no time.”

“But there’s no way we’ll know how she really is,” Grace said. “This isn’t fair.”

“I hate to pull out this cliché, but life is rarely fair. I’m afraid we don’t have any choice.” Danny hated the utter devastation on Grace’s face; there simply weren’t any alternatives that he could think of. “What do you say we distract ourselves by baking a batch of the best chocolate chip cookies in the world?”

Danny had learned over the years that sometimes there was no cure for the blues, but that chocolate was the most effective diversion. He’d had the blues so often in the last few years, it was the one thing in his limited but growing repertoire that never failed. Grace nodded at him without any enthusiasm, and he nudged her shoulder with his elbow.

“It’ll be okay,” Danny said.

“If you say so,” Grace said glumly.

Sure enough, though, ten minutes later they were both elbow deep in flour and sugar and there was a genuine sparkle in Grace’s eyes as she nabbed a walnut-sized clump of dough, jammed a chocolate chip on top of it and popped the whole thing in her mouth. Danny laughed, starting to feel better about having to break her heart a little bit. He winked at her, grabbed his own bit of dough and ate it. They made a pretty good team in the kitchen. The other big part of his attempt to broaden his culinary horizons was that he cherished this time with Grace so, so much. It wasn’t that they didn’t do things together during her whole time with him, limited that it was, but there was something different about these kinds of moments. 

It didn’t take long for the homey scent of cookies to fill the air. Grace hummed as they worked and Danny thought maybe, just maybe the baking therapy had done its thing.

“In school, we once had a lesson about therapy animals,” Grace said out of the blue as she scraped a cookie off a pan and slid it onto the cooling rack. 

“Oh?”

“A lot of people have had bad things happen to them,” Grace said, all business. “And sometimes whatever bad thing happened was so bad it makes their brains too noisy. Sometimes they don’t know how to be around other people, but animals are different. Most people think that dogs are the best company, but cats can be very calming.”

Sometimes Danny thought his daughter was actually a wise old woman trapped in a tiny body. He had no idea where this insight had come from, but a germ of an idea sprouted in his noisy brain. 

“Huh,” he said, pouring each of them a glass of milk to go with their plate of cookies. 

The cat came running back into the living room just as he and Grace headed for the sofa. She made a beeline for the picture window, cutting a fast path right in front of them. She leapt, all agility and beauty … until she smacked into the wall just below the sill and ended up in a kitty heap on the floor. She got up and shook her head so hard her ears made a flappy sound, and she glanced around as if embarrassed. 

Danny shot a wry look at Grace and said, “Then again.”

H50H50H50

There were no ifs, ands or buts about it, this had to work. He knew it was a long shot, showing up on someone’s doorstep unannounced with a surprise as big as asking them to take care of another living being. The shot was especially long considering who the someone was. Danny wasn’t sure how much Grace knew about Steve’s past, distant or recent, but she’d obviously cued into something he hadn’t seen. Some detective he was – Grace’s subtle hint about service animals was what it had taken for him to see what had been in front of his face the whole time.

Danny had noticed changes in Steve’s appearance on a superficial level – a rough night evidenced by dark shadows under his eyes, a gaunt look to his face after a long, meal-less day – but once the seed had been planted, it became so clear that it pained him. Whatever Steve had going on in that head of is, maybe the care and feeding of another creature would help in the care and feeding of himself. Danny didn’t know if it would work.

What he did know was that now he was going to watch Steve like a hawk. He might have been failing a bit at the best friend thing as of late, but that was about to change. If Steve ever got over him pawning off a cat, Danny thought with a chuckle. It was time to go make this work. He had a feeling Steve would protest mightily, but Danny had something in his back pocket he knew his partner wouldn’t be able to resist and he wasn’t afraid to use it. He took a deep breath and stared at the house some more.

The cat meowed.

“Right,” Danny said, turning to look at the cardboard carrier in his passenger seat. “I figure we’ll go in first, and then when it’s all settled I’ll come back for your stuff.”

The cat meowed again, the saddest rendition he’d heard since that first night she stayed locked in his bathroom. In his heart of hearts, Danny understood that animals didn’t have it in them to be passive-aggressive in the same calculated way humans did, but damned if the caterwauling didn’t make him feel guilty anyway. He’d suffered a whole night with those big yellow eyes staring at him balefully, too, which were just as difficult to ignore. 

“You’ll like it here. It’s bigger. More territory to claim.”

Danny had almost convinced himself this was the best solution for everyone. He slid out of the car, grabbing the carrier and pulling it along behind him. He ignored the pitiful meows, told himself he wasn’t going to miss them at all. His apartment wasn’t going to be alarmingly quiet. He didn’t usually knock on Steve’s door, but on this occasion he thought it might be the better approach. He gave it a good couple of raps and waited, surprised when he heard Steve call out and the door opened a few moments later. In his experience, even the time he’d spent couch surfing there, Steve was very rarely _in_ his home. Danny was sure that if he had a degree in armchair psychology, he’d find a plentitude of reasons for this quirk, but he wasn’t in any sort of position to play that kind of game.

Steve looked disheveled as he pulled the door back, like he’d been napping or … his hair was damp … swimming or showering. He blinked a couple of times, confusion all over his face.

“Danny?” Steve said. “What’s with the knocking?”

Shrugging, Danny slid past Steve and he may or may not have attempted to shield the carrier from his partner as he did so. The cat was quiet for once, for which he was unreasonably grateful. The feeling lasted a couple of seconds, or about as long as it took for him to realize he was making a big deal out of nothing. Either this worked or it didn’t. He wasn’t so caught up in not disappointing his daughter that he was being neurotic, except for the part where he absolutely was. 

“Wasn’t sure you were here,” Danny said, to a raised eyebrow from Steve. “Nice change of pace? I don’t know, I guess I thought it would be polite.”

To Danny, Steve looked like he had about forty-five things he could say to that, but instead bit the inside of a very hollow cheek and tipped his head to the side. Shit, how had he not seen this? All of a sudden, Danny was struck by the image of a cat after her first flea bath, fur still wet and clinging to skin and bones, skinny as a rail and eyes fearful and angry at the same time. 

“Polite,” was what Steve settled on. He flicked his eyes to the carrier, frowned and took a step back, hit the door with an elbow. “What’s in the box, Danno?”

The cat took the opportunity to remember how her vocal cords worked, letting out a throaty, soul-deep yowl. Danny winced. Steve’s eyes got huge and he shook his head. 

“Oh, no. No, no, no.”

“It’s a cat,” Danny said helpfully as he gently set the box down. He unhooked the flaps from the handle, opened the lid and tipped the box so the cat and Steve could get their first looks at each other. “Her name is Sulley.”

“Her,” Steve said, appearing dazed. Maybe confused. “Sulley.”

“Grace named her. Ever seen _Monsters, Inc._? Never mind, of course you haven’t. Why would you have seen that movie? In any case, the name is non-negotiable. She’s Sulley because Grace has deemed her Sulley. She’s really a very good cat, I think you’ll like her.”

Steve held up a hand to halt Danny’s ramble before it took on a life of its own. He took a step closer, peered into the box and pressed his lips together for a second.

“I don’t want a cat. What in the world made you think I’d take a cat?” Steve crossed his arms. “I’m a dog person.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve always said, too, buddy,” Danny said. He lifted Sulley out of the box, cradled her in his arms. She lifted her face, sniffing out the new location, and her eyes were sharp as she twisted and arched her neck. “Turns out I’m really an animal person.”

“If you like it, you keep it,” Steve said, stubborn to the core. “How did you even end up with a cat, and why didn’t any of us know about this addition to your household?”

“Grace and I found her a little over a week ago, when we were doing the _‘Aiea Loop_. I thought maybe she was feral initially, but then she ran right for us. Steve, if you could have seen how desperate and thin she was, I don’t think you would have turned her away, either.”

“She’s pretty little now.” Steve might have had a hint of curiosity in his voice. Maybe. “But that doesn’t explain why you never mentioned this cat and why you brought her here.”

“You didn’t notice my arms were all scratched up, I didn’t want to call attention to it.” Danny shrugged, as if that made perfect sense. He set Sulley back into the box. 

“I noticed,” Steve said. “I just wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to that question.”

“Of course. And why I’m here? Neighbor raised a stink.” Danny swept his arms out and looked as rueful as he could. “And if you had seen Grace’s face when I told her I had to get rid of the cat, you’d have come up with a creative solution as well. Congratulations, pal, you won the feline lotto.”

“Grace,” Steve said, but his eyes were on Sulley, who hopped elegantly from the box and walked cautiously toward him. Her tail was high, on alert. 

“Grace, you should know, demands visitation rights. She wasn’t going to get that if we took Sulley to a shelter – who knows where the cat would have ended up. You can see there’s little choice here. Would you be willing to have Grace and me over to see Sulley frequently?”

That was the beauty of the plan, really, a built-in monitoring solution for him. Danny could keep an eye on Steve without him even knowing it. Something strange flitted across Steve’s features, soft and also alarmed. For a Navy SEAL, the guy was incredibly expressive. It was a wonder to Danny, sometimes, when he thought about that hardened, all-business guy who’d first landed on this rock a year and a half ago. Danny almost laughed when Sulley went right up to Steve, tilted her head, meowed once and then scaled him like a tree. She perched on Steve’s shoulder, burrowed into his neck for warmth. 

“Oh,” Steve said. His right hand shot up, cradled under Sulley’s butt like she could fall off of those broad shoulders. 

“She likes you,” Danny said.

Danny knew he’d had Steve at the mention of Grace, but the cat couldn’t have done a better job of it herself. He heard Sulley’s loud purrs and saw the capitulation all over Steve’s face seconds before he nodded.

H50H50H50

To hear Steve talk, the cat was the bane of his existence, a thorn in his side, a pain in his ass, and any number of clichés. Danny was the primary recipient of these frequent bitch sessions, probably due to the direct responsibility he bore in bringing this apparently demonic creature into Steve’s life. He had to admit that he often had a hard time not grinning his face off, because the animation Steve had when he was whining about the cat was a far cry better than the brooding his partner had taken to when he thought no one was looking.

The changes were actually subtle enough most without inside information wouldn’t notice them, but Danny had that inside track. Many wouldn’t know the difference between Steve coming in with shadows under his eyes from some nightmare, and shadows under his eyes from a cat with an even earlier rise time than him. While Danny had firsthand knowledge of Steve’s unofficial therapy animal and her effects, he could sense Chin and Kono both _ease_ when it came to Steve. He couldn’t put it any other way. It was that infinitesimal shift in their shoulders, the way their eyes softened when they were in close proximity with Steve. Possibly, he was romanticizing things. Despite his certainty everything would end in unmitigated disaster, he was a romantic at heart. 

But there was nothing imagined about the strides Steve had made, physically. Much less noticeable were the dark circles. His cheeks had color that had been sorely lacking for far too long, though they were still on the wrong side of gaunt. No doubt about it, Sulley the cat was doing something for Steve. Danny made sure that he and Grace always brought her a little something special when they visited as a reward, the end result of that being Steve’s formerly immaculate house being littered with toys. Watching Steve go from hypersensitive about every stray hair that ended up on his sofa to shrugging when he stepped on a mangled stuffed mouse was a bonus as far as Danny was concerned.

“He must be in the back already,” Danny said after they’d conducted a fast recon of Steve’s first floor. 

It was Saturday on a Grace weekend. They’d developed a routine following Steve’s mostly involuntary pet adoption – Saturday afternoons spent around Steve’s rocky beach or whatever, then cooking experimentation whatever concoction had looked the best to Danny from the Food Network that week. Danny had come to count on these days with Steve almost as much as he depended on his Grace time. 

“I don’t see him. He knew we were coming, right?” Grace called from the French doors leading onto the _lanai_.

“Of course he knew.”

Danny suspected Steve had also developed a certain enjoyment of this routine of theirs. Judging by the way the guy’s face lit up every time he saw Grace, their visitations with the cat were not unwelcome in other ways. It filled Danny with such fondness to see his partner doing so much better, and happy for the first time in months.

“And where’s Sulley?”

“That’s a great question,” Danny said absently.

It was unusual enough to not be greeted by Steve, but the cat, well, she’d gotten a little spoiled and usually ran right for Grace to butt her head on kneecaps or forehead when his daughter bent to give her ear scritches. Danny frowned at the silence of the house, a thin thread of worry unraveling in his mind. He was probably blowing things out of proportion – Steve was looking and acting better; there wasn’t always an actual disaster lurking around the corner. He shook his head to rid himself of the negative thoughts, headed for the stairs.

Grace proceeded to call for the cat in a sweet, sing-song voice, searching high and low while crinkling the new toy to try to lure her out. Sulley knew how to hide and seemed to love swiping at ankles of unsuspecting humans when the opportunities presented themselves. Danny snorted. The habit teetered between the edges of being either adorable or annoying, much like pretty much everything her owner did. He smiled at his daughter, gestured that he’d head upstairs to check and that she should stay down. For all he knew, Steve had just finished with a shower and was strolling around naked up there. That was a much better option than anything else he’d imagined, but his precious girl didn’t need to see that and he was so not ready for the birds and the bees discussion. To be frank, he was pinning his hopes on Rachel handling that completely. He had to shake his head to dislodge thoughts and images again. 

Danny moved softly and went straight for Steve’s bedroom door, which was ajar. He bumped it open wider to look in and froze at what was revealed. A week or two ago, he might have laughed and woken his partner. Steve was definitely asleep, all loose and comfortable, draped diagonally across the bed wearing only board shorts. He looked rumpled and relaxed, all of the stress lines usually on his face virtually smoothed out. Peaceful, Danny thought, was a good look for Steve. What really sold the scene was Sulley, cradled under Steve’s right arm, sprawled on her back, with her paws curled and her head resting on Steve’s bicep. 

“Yeah, you’re a dog person,” Danny whispered.

The impulse to capture the moment was too great. The light was right, the scene was very touching. The cat had accomplished far more than he could have hoped. Danny turned off the sound on his phone before he snapped a few candids, noting the way the sun streaming into the room highlighted both cat whiskers and Steve’s ridiculous eyelashes. After the last shot, Sulley opened her eyes a slit and stared at him, as if bored by his presence. He took it as a warning, pausing only to capture one last picture before he re-closed the door and went back downstairs.

“Did you find them?” Grace asked, a worried frown on her face.

“Yeah, they’re sleeping, looks like they both need it.” Danny wondered what kind of terrible night made it so Steve could sleep through someone entering his house. “How about we head out back and have some fun without them for a while? If it comes down to it, we’ll wake them up rattling around the pots and pans in the kitchen later.”

“Okay, Danno.” 

Grace smiled big, her earlier troubled countenance gone. Her good nature was proof that miracles did exist. Between him and Rachel and all of their baggage, how their daughter turned out so sunny and bright was beyond him sometimes. Danny followed, sparing a backwards glance toward the second floor as he did. He and Grace made it through one full game of Frisbee golf and were halfway through the second when Steve made his appearance, Sulley tagging along behind him with her tail held high. She was primarily an indoor cat, but she had her territory in Steve’s backyard and she carried herself like a queen in it. 

“Uncle Steve!” Grace shouted and ran for his partner, giving him a quick hug before falling to her knees to dote on Sulley.

Steve continued toward Danny, still appearing a bit rumpled and sleepy. He also looked embarrassed, and he ducked his head as he drew closer. 

“You guys been here long?” Steve asked. 

“Little bit,” Danny said.

“I don’t know what came over me. I only meant to lie down for a few minutes.”

“Don’t apologize. Everyone needs, ah, a good cat nap now and again.”

Rolling his eyes, Steve said, “You’re not going to let me live it down, are you?”

“Of course not,” Danny said. “It’s not every day a guy catches his partner in bed getting a little tail.” 

Steve groaned, then laughed and elbowed him gently, still no stress lines in sight but plenty of laugh ones. They moved in sync toward Grace where she played with Sulley, and Danny couldn’t help the swell of contentment. He hadn’t felt such a thing for so long, yet it was familiar. Nice, even, and for once he couldn’t imagine anything upsetting this new balance he’d found.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who want to see the cat who invited himself into my home (much to the original cats' dismay), you can see him [here](https://flic.kr/p/mjWkVP). Or if that's not enough, [try this one](https://flic.kr/p/ovpFNK). I mean, [how flipping ridiculous can he get?](https://flic.kr/p/p7GKPK) This is him on [the first day](https://flic.kr/p/hUwAqt). Bless his skinny, starving heart.
> 
> Oh, and here's the rest of the story.

The sound of the ocean was the first clue something wasn’t quite right. He couldn’t hear the ocean from his current place. The loud repetition of waves crashing on the shore did nothing to soothe him, actually made him feel woozy. He wanted to roll over and pull a pillow over his head, but the second sign was that he could tell the lumpiness beneath him wasn’t a mattress – too narrow. Wherever he was, it was softer than the floor and that was good enough for now. Every muscle ached like he’d been through a war, his head might have had an icepick skewering it and his mouth tasted rank. He lay quietly and wracked his muddled brain, uncertain why he felt so crappy. There was something vague and ominous in the shadows of his mind, just out of reach and something heavy pressed against his chest. It wasn’t enough to impede breathing physically, but the sensation of being trapped made him uncomfortable.

Danny shifted to get out from under the pressure, and immediately the weight on his chest began to vibrate. Confused, he cracked his eyes open and lifted his throbbing head, came face to face with blue-gray fur, yellow eyes and whiskers that tickled his nose. He scrunched his eyebrows together, confusion not alleviated in the slightest. 

“What’re you doing here?” he croaked. 

Sulley took that as an open invitation to stick her nose against his mouth, sniffing loudly all the while. She meowed. The addition of her rancid fish breath served to let Danny know he was queasy as hell. He twisted his head away, ignored the additional pitiable meows but couldn’t ignore when she started kneading his neck. Without preamble he dumped her onto the floor and swallowed a few times. He was not going to puke. He was not. He curled on his side, pressed his face into the pillow he only now noticed was beneath his head. The cat hopped back up, curled against his belly, not to be deterred. He moaned, but his left hand found her head and began stroking. Sulley seemed to approve, purring. Unlike the waves, that sound did prove to relax him. He slid back into sleep with the faint notion that he wasn’t where he thought he was again at the forefront of his brain.

When Danny woke again, he saw a pair of bare feet. Human ones. His eyes felt like they’d been dipped in sand a few times and his vision blurry, but, yep, feet. Next to the feet sat Sulley, who stared at him with an inscrutable feline expression – boredom, maybe, or disdain. Danny sure knew he felt like he’d done something to earn disdain, as his head still hurt and his memory was spotty. He was at Steve’s; he had no idea how he’d gotten there. 

“Hey,” Danny said, easing into a seated position. The room spun a bit, but nothing too terrible. Mild … moderate hangover. He rested his elbows on his knees and hung his head down. 

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Steve said, amusement in his voice but also concern. 

Danny closed his eyes, heard Steve stand and shuffle toward the kitchen, then back. A cool double tap to his shoulder made him look up, and he accepted the glass of water gratefully. He sipped it, swished it around a bit in his disgusting mouth. Clearly, he’d had a few drinks. That wasn’t really his M.O., getting sloshed and crashing wherever was convenient.

“Thanks.” Danny’s voice still sounded ragged in his ears. He slouched back, stared blearily at Steve. “Why do I feel like shit?”

“You tied on a few,” Steve said, slow, cautious. “Yesterday was a bad day. The worst.”

Danny frowned at Steve’s tone and then. Oh. Oh, just like that, yesterday came back to him in a whirling mass of images and feelings. Dave Collins, stabbed brutally. Grace’s scared voice. Peterson, sweaty, violent, angry. Grace. Stan, on the ground. Grace, Gracie. Danny shot to his feet. Hands on his shoulders stopped him from bolting. Red, all he saw was red. He stumbled away from the hands holding him, headed blindly to the main floor bathroom and collapsed in front of the toilet a second before the water he’d drunk made its unpleasant reappearance. He heaved and heaved, not giving a damn that he was blubbering like a baby all the while. One of Steve’s hands was on his back, rubbing. The other cupped his forehead and Danny should care, he should be embarrassed by this, but all he could think about was his baby girl taped to a chair in a fucking stuffy, hot storage unit and his fault. Hisfaulthisfault.

“Grace,” he said

“Breathe, Danny. Grace is okay.” Steve spoke softly, with more gentleness than he’d ever used as far as Danny knew. “You got her, it’s all going to be okay.”

Still shaking like a leaf, Danny flopped away from the toilet. He fumbled around a bit until his back was pressed against the opposite wall. He was surprised when Steve followed him, sat so close their shoulders and thighs touched. He really did appreciate the gesture, but as he began to settle down, that embarrassment began to crop up. Now he remembered driving on autopilot to Steve’s house after making sure Grace was tucked in and safe in Rachel’s gated community, an appointment with a child psychologist already on the calendar. He remembered wanting to dive into a bottle and never surface, which he’d apparently accomplished. He remembered pouring his troubles out on Steve, and Steve taking them on as if his own worries weren’t four hundred times that of Danny’s. 

“I feel like shit,” Danny said again.

“It’ll get better, Danny. Maybe it’ll take a while, but it will,” Steve said quietly, the voice of experience.

“She’s really okay?”

“I don’t lie to you, Danny, about anything, but especially not when it comes to Grace.”

“I know.” Danny nodded. “I know.”

Danny let his head rest on the wall, eyes focused on the edge of the vanity. In his periphery, he saw Steve watching him. He leaned his shoulder against Steve’s, acknowledging the depth of his friend’s support in the only way he could at the moment, and they sat there in silence that wasn’t as uncomfortable as it really should have been considering the circumstances. It didn’t take long for his ass to start hurting, but he was disinclined to move. Yesterday, he’d been so alone. Today, he wasn’t.

After a few minutes, Sulley wandered in. Danny and Steve both looked at her. She glanced at them, strolled over to the toilet and stretched up to peer inside. She let out a meow which echoed in the bowl, then looked at them. She huffed and got back on all fours, clambered over their legs until she was sprawled out over both of them. She rolled onto her back to show them her belly, demonstrating exactly what she thought their priorities should be. 

Sitting there in a tiny bathroom with Steve bolstering him up and a selfish cat demanding affection, Danny thought that however horrible yesterday had been, today was shaping up to be just fine. He reached out to stroke Sulley’s belly. His prize was razor-sharp teeth chomping lightly on his fingers and the rumble of Steve’s laughter.

H50H50H50

“Here, Sull,” Danny called into the dark recesses of Steve’s home. “Come on out, kitty.”

He didn’t know much about animal psychology or if it was even a valid thing, but he knew this: Sulley seemed depressed. Since Steve had left her in Danny’s care without warning, getting her to come out for some social time was like pulling teeth, getting her to eat all of her food a chore. He knew his experience with cats was skewed because Sulley had been so malnourished during her short stint at his house, but it seemed atypical for a cat to be as uninterested in food as she was right now. When he and Grace visited, dinnertime was always an amusing, noisy affair, with Sulley wailing like she hadn’t eaten for days.

“Sulley, are you hungry?” He made it to the kitchen and grabbed the bag of kibble and rattled it, went to the gadget drawer to dig around for the can opener – both used to be surefire cat magnets. “Food.”

Nothing. Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair, then down his face. Glancing around the gloomy, empty space that was Steve’s house, he had to say he understood completely why the cat was acting depressed. He wasn’t exactly feeling chipper himself, and that had a lot to do with … Steve. He’d thought Steve had made progress. His partner still looked haunted at times, remained a tad sickly, but on the whole had started being more like his old self. His old self who apparently didn’t think that withholding information was the same thing as lying. It _was_ depressing to think his partner had only been able to muster a quickly scrawled note as a good-bye as he left for parts unknown. Then again, maybe Danny had overestimated their relationship as being anything other than a professional one. 

Somehow, between the daily bantering and weekend visits to Steve’s house with Grace, he’d stupidly considered family time, Danny had talked himself into being at least three-quarters in love with Steve. In certain moments, he was able to admit the feelings had lain mostly dormant for a long, long time. He’d felt that physical ping immediately, but he knew there had always been more to it than that. It wasn’t until that day he’d found Steve napping with Sulley that he’d allowed his feelings to start solidifying. He couldn’t say what it was about that moment, definitively, though maybe it was that it had been evidence of Steve’s trust in him, them. For a guy like Steve to fall asleep and stay that way when someone entered his house … it was either a huge red flag or a signal of something else entirely. It was enough for him to not mind so terribly much when Gabby, who was always as busy as he was, departed for an extended work trip.

But what the hell did Danny know, really? He was the recipient of a Dear John letter and the guy left behind. 

Danny did his usual rounds of the house, cleaning the litter box, checking the plants, securing windows that were already secure, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary. Other than the house being spookily vacant, all was as it should be. It didn’t surprise him in the least when he finally found Sulley curled in a ball on Steve’s pillow. Though their job kept them busy and away for long days and she was probably used to being by herself, Steve never coming home at night at all was likely confusing to her. 

“There you are, sweetheart,” he said. He slid onto the bed, plumped up the other pillow and propped it behind his back. The room was shadowy, the hall light he’d turned on cutting an angular swath through it. “Gets lonely here, I’ll bet.”

The bed smelled like Steve, he noted, like he hadn’t been gone almost a week but had just been there a minute or two ago. No wonder Sulley had picked this spot. As angry as Danny was with Steve for disappearing on him, them, sitting on that bed surrounded by his partner’s things also soothed him. Jerk didn’t even have the decency to let him retain his anger in all its glory. He looked at Sulley, who peered back at him and let out a tiny, miserable mewl.

“He’ll be back.” Danny stroked Sulley’s head, smiled when she purred on contact. She knew how to work it. “You gotta keep your strength up so you can shred him when he does. If not that, then maybe you should eat and then puke on his favorite slippahs. Tell you what – you do that, and I won’t clean it up. I don’t usually support acts of rebellion as disgusting as that, but for you I’ll make an exception. Maybe it’ll teach him he can’t just abandon you this way.”

Abandonment. Now he wasn’t sure if he was talking to Sulley or himself. Danny didn’t have the right to feel that way, yet he did. He understood Steve. He knew there wasn’t any ill intent behind the choices Steve made. He really did. Steve got so tunnel-visioned when it came to Wo Fat and Shelburne and all of that shit that had been hidden from him his whole life, he didn’t always register that his actions now impacted more than just himself. It wasn’t like Danny could blame him for that. He couldn’t change it, and he didn’t truly want to. What drew him to Steve included all the bad, inconvenient things he pulled.

Through all of Danny’s mental meanderings, he realized being in Steve’s room made him feel better much the way Sulley had sought refuge here. He allowed himself a few minutes of sitting there, petting Sulley and letting the stress of the last few days bleed away. He couldn’t hang around Steve’s house all evening, though, and doing so would turn sour even for all of the sweet at the moment. The sweet, he reasoned was really due to the cat, who had never done anything to him except accidentally scratch him. The sour would always hover in the dark corners of his thoughts; he had his own set of bad, inconvenient things to deal with, after all. 

Eventually, Danny forced himself to move, slid off the bed. Sulley seemed to be energized by his presence as much as he was comforted by hers. She trotted next to him to the kitchen and her daily meal. While she crunched, he continued to turn over the mystery of where Steve had suddenly taken off to. He wasn’t even sure why, but he gravitated to the old tool box.

He sat with it at the table, rifling through the contents, looking for something to go on. Danny wasn’t a fool; he knew even if he determined where Steve had gone, he wasn’t welcome to follow. It wasn’t like when Steve had gone with Jenna, where they all knew beforehand and tried to understand the faulty logic. This was Steve claiming _ohana_ in word and rogue loner in deed, which was something Danny found difficult not to be bitter about, clearly. He’d had a bad feeling with Jenna and he had a bad feeling now. It was probably separation anxiety, he thought with a rueful grin and a glance toward Sulley. The cat cocked her head at him, then wandered off, letting out random yowls to make sure he understood she was still there and she was the important one. He smiled to himself. He was too personally involved. He need to sort that stuff about Steve right out of his head. 

Sorting through Steve’s actual things helped. It didn’t take him long to figure out what thread his partner was pulling, and where on the globe he was pulling it. Danny had many regrets in his life, but contacting Joe White when Steve was locked up for murdering the governor of Hawaii was bumping up on the list rapidly. The guy kept cropping up and he was a secretive bastard. Steve was looking for him and apparently hadn’t cared that much to hide his trail, which spoke to his state of mind more than anything. Danny kept staring at the evidence, as if doing so would make it change or give him the ability to do something about it. It turned out knowing where his wayward partner had gone didn’t really fix his unhappiness.

The only thing that would was Steve’s return. After he gave his partner a very large piece of his mind, of course. Danny was so lost in his thoughts he almost started at the sound of someone at the door. For a brief flash, he thought maybe it was Steve. It was Chin.

Danny took a deep breath, schooled his face into a neutral expression and greeted his teammate.

H50H50H50

It didn’t matter how long Danny stood under the shower stream, no amount of water was going to wash away the mess that had become life these last few weeks. He couldn’t rinse off the horrible, sick feeling he had that he might have to leave Hawaii so that he might stay close to Grace, the only unquestionable bright spot in his existence. He couldn’t scrub out of his head the image of Chin’s face at the paddle out for Malia, or Kono’s air of guilt and sadness over the same. He sure as hell didn’t think there was any way to remove the residue of Steve’s mother re-entering then re-exiting his life.

And then there was Catherine. 

Danny closed his eyes and let the cool water run down his back. Catherine’s presence wasn’t exactly as troubling as anything else on the list, but it changed certain dynamics that he had grown accustomed to. Steve looked like he appreciated her being around, looked better than he had in ages despite Doris flitting in and out of his life. Hell, it was probably Catherine being on leave that kept his partner sane and wasn’t it just too bad that Danny had come to think of that as his role? He’d gotten Steve to adopt a _cat_ for that, yet somehow he’d assumed the credit. 

Well, it didn’t matter. Steve had all but told him it would be better for Danny to just put his tail between his legs and schlep off to Las Vegas. To spare Grace the grief, his partner had said, but the sting of the words was as fresh as ever. That right there was at the heart of his current state of pessimism. Danny didn’t have much of a hope of there being anything more than a professional relationship with a healthy side of friendly rapport with Steve and he knew it, but no matter how well-intentioned, the comment now had him questioning even that. He and Grace hadn’t resumed their Steve Saturdays, partially because of that and partially because none of them had really been able to get their feet on solid ground. Afternoons goofing off seemed trivial, and besides, now Steve had Catherine.

He shut off the water at long last, his fingertips actually pruned from having been in the shower for so long. Danny caught his reflection in the mirror as he toweled off, tipped his head and stuck out his jaw. For as quickly as his hair was fleeing from the top of his head, the rest of his body did not have the same issue and he hadn’t shaved since … two mornings ago, he thought. He wasn’t sure on that, as he had long known that time flew whether or not there was fun being had. However long ago, he looked like a hobo. He picked up the can of shave cream, dispensed a glob of it onto his left palm. His hand was almost to his face when someone started knocking on his door. With a sigh, he shook off the cream and rinsed his hand. The knocking continued.

“Hang on,” Danny shouted. To himself, he mumbled, “I can’t answer the door buck naked.”

He wasn’t expecting company. All he really wanted was a nice, quiet night, maybe a beer and a night of bad television. Nothing numbed a fraught mind like unrealistic cop dramas. Danny went quickly across the corridor to his bedroom and snagged a pair of shorts and a T, slipped both on and as he headed for the door. He ran his hands through his hair to tame it into submission. Whoever this was, it had better not be bad news. Putting a positive spin on anything wasn’t his forte, but maybe it was Publisher’s Clearinghouse and he’d just won enough money to strong arm Rachel and Stan for a change. That satisfying fantasy made him smile as he opened the door, where he saw Steve, looking like a different fantasy altogether.

“You. You knocked,” Danny said, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. “You never knock.”

Steve was a barger. He had been since the day they’d met, barging into Danny’s miserable life and making it less so. Danny furrowed his eyebrows as his partner continued to stand there, apparently suffering sudden onset muteness. Sweeping his arm out, Danny opened the door wider to let Steve by. 

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?” Danny eyed Steve. “Relatively speaking. For you.”

“No,” Steve said after a moment’s hesitation. “Everything is not okay.”

Danny’s heart began to beat faster. Holy shit, how could anything else possibly go wrong? He … all of them, they were maxed out. Done with the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad things. 

“What?” Danny crossed his arms over his chest, as if the rigid posture would ward off bad news. “What is it?”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I was so wrong.” Steve paced in front of the sofa twice, then sank onto it. He looked at Danny, eyes somber. “You can’t go to Las Vegas, Danny.”

Danny relaxed, uncrossed his arms and sat next to Steve, close enough to feel the tension he could already see in the guy. He huffed out a laugh, ran a hand through his hair one more time.

“I actually hadn’t planned on it, Steve,” Danny said wryly. “You know that. The sudden change in your stance is appreciated, though I wonder what brought it about.”

Steve nodded and still looked so relieved the temptation to sling an arm around his shoulders was high. Through the better part of some valor, Danny managed to keep his hands to himself, though anyone would agree Steve could pretty much always use a hug these days. His restraint was more for himself. He knew what it felt like to have Steve’s arms around him. A one-armed side hug was no longer ever going to cut it, and a full-on hug was also inadvisable for his own mental health.

“Sulley made off with another potholder, unwound an entire roll of toilet paper, shredded the shower curtain and threw up on another pair of my slippahs,” Steve blurted. 

Danny blinked, was fairly sure it was one of those confused, one-eye-at-a-time blinks. He tried to understand what any of that had to do with the original issue and failed to come up with anything that seemed reasonable.

“Okay, so she’s being a cat.” Danny spoke slowly. Maybe too slowly, because Steve turned and glowered at him. “I just … I don’t know what that has to do with you changing your stance about me and Vegas.”

“She’s been a little standoffish since I got back.” Steve bowed his head, rubbed at the back of his neck like this subject was excruciatingly painful for him to discuss. “She used to be a lot better behaved than I ever expected a cat to be.”

“Well, not to point out the obvious, but animals like routine.” People were animals, too, Danny thought but kept to himself. “When that routine is changed, they act out.”

“Exactly,” Steve said, enthusiastic in a way that suggested Danny should know what he meant. 

It did nothing to alleviate Danny’s confusion. If Steve already knew that Sulley was being a pain in his ass because in her cat mind she’d been abandoned for several weeks by the two-legged bringer of food in her life, then the relevance was still lost on him. He scrunched his eyebrows together.

“Now you’re back. We’re _all_ getting used to the idea you’re not taking off again,” Danny said, unable to resist a tiny, eensy dig. “She’s bound to settle down.”

Steve sighed and shook his head. 

“No, I don’t think it’s that, but thank you for reminding me I mishandled the situation.” Steve bumped his knee against Danny’s. “I said I was sorry. I’m sincerely sorry. I will keep saying that until you believe me. No, it’s more … I think she misses you.”

Huh.

“And Grace, too, of course,” Steve said quickly. His cheeks took on a slight pink hue. It was adorable, honestly. “So maybe, if it’s not too much with all you have going on, the custody stuff, you could swing by next weekend when you have her? You know, back to the routine.”

Somewhere along the uncharacteristically nervous path Steve took to get there, Danny started to wonder if it was Sulley he was really talking about. It was probably easy to dismiss as his own delusions, but he had the distinct impression that Steve meant _he_ missed having Danny and Grace stop by. The routine might initially have been broken by Steve’s abrupt departure, but it had never taken hold again. There’d been too much going on to think that much about it, and he’d presumed Steve’s free time was still spent on Doris-related drama. 

And Catherine, who Danny was not going to mention. 

“I’m sure Grace would love that,” Danny said, the “and I would too” also left unspoken.

H50H50H50

In reality, it took Sulley a while to adjust to him and Grace invading her domain again and so Steve’s cover was blown. Neither Danny nor Steve were foolish enough to think that animals experienced emotions in the same way as humans, but it was one of those comfortable lies people told themselves about the pets they adored – whether it be a secret love affair or one broadcast for all to see. He wanted to believe that he and Steve were good enough friends that the whole subterfuge could have been avoided, that if Steve wanted Danny and Grace to come over he could have simply asked instead of making up a story that the cat missed their company.

Then again, Danny hadn’t been all that diplomatic (sticking with what he knew) when it came to expressing his displeasure with Steve. The guy was probably uncertain about where he stood. Danny sneaked a sidelong look at his partner and the look of utter serenity on Steve’s face as he watched Grace play with Sulley made him vow to stop beating the dead horse. What was done was done. Steve was back now and that was all that mattered; that he wanted Danny and Grace to resume their customary Saturday routine was more than enough. 

Goodness knew, too, that Danny hadn’t seen his daughter so relaxed and happy since he’d had the conversation with her about where she would choose to live, before that, even – since Peterson. Kids were perceptive. Unlike the first go-around, he and Rachel had kept the ugliness of their current custody dispute to paper. No shouting matches within a child’s earshot yet, and none of the worst of it had come up. It didn’t matter; Grace was older now and she understood better what was happening. Whether she realized it or not, it was affecting her. Seeing her being silly and joyful with a cat and a few toys was a beautiful thing. Her laughter, as always, made him feel like the luckiest bastard on the planet. 

“It just goes to show, animals really do have a profound impact on people,” Danny said softly, jutting his chin toward Grace when he saw Steve glance at him out of his peripheral vision. “I didn’t even realize how much Grace had missed this, or needed it.”

“I’m glad you guys are here,” Steve murmured. 

Before, they’d built up to some pretty lively afternoons. Today, they weren’t doing much but sitting around in companionable silence, a college football game on in the background which Danny couldn’t concentrate on. That was uncharacteristic of him, and Steve too, though both of them knew that Steve only bought the sports package for Danny’s sake. It was also the time of year Danny would usually start lamenting how he missed the seasons changing, that particular tang in the air as autumn set in and the leaves began to change color. For the first time since he’d landed on this rock, that kind of nostalgic homesickness was barely noticeable. Maybe it was all of the shit that had piled on all of them suddenly, or maybe, just maybe, it was that he was finally admitting to himself that he belonged here, with Grace and Five-0. _With Steve_ , his relentless inner voice chanted. 

“I can honestly say there’s no place we’d rather be.” 

Steve went on alert, almost stiffened. It only lasted a moment, but Danny caught it. Danny knew how to read physical cues as part of the job, and with Steve it seemed his skill was more finely tuned these days. If it had lasted more than a second, he might have pressed the issue, but Steve had already eased back into his practiced slouch by the time he processed it – that was how fleeting it was. Add to that the distraction of Grace thundering upstairs, completely oblivious to the two other humans in the house, and he brushed it aside. The game still didn’t hold that much interest for him, so he rose and headed for the kitchen to prep things for the dinnertime cook session. 

He’d found a salad recipe using quinoa and kale that sounded surprisingly delicious, and if he made it now the flavors might have time to marry a bit. In a fit of optimism (or maybe nervousness), Danny had decided the custody proceedings would go his way if for no other reason than he needed them to. And since that meant more Grace time, he had really amped up his self-education in all things culinary and nutrition. Besides, kale and quinoa seemed like they’d be right up Steve’s alley. He measured the quinoa and got out a strainer, set it under a running tap to rinse the grain before putting it in a saucepan with water and turned the burner on high. He could do all of this by himself, but he wanted the company of his sous chef, and wondered if he could tear Grace away from the kitty time. He got the kale out and set it on the counter, the headed out of the kitchen, intent on collecting his daughter. 

He nearly plowed into Steve.

“I was just going to get Grace to have her give me a hand,” Danny said, taking an awkward step back. 

“She commandeered the TV,” Steve said with a gesture toward the living area. “She and Sulley are curled up watching some show starring a bunch of kids who can’t act.”

“Nicklodeon. Or Disney. God help me, she’s started watching MTV shows too. Six of one, half dozen of the other.” Danny nodded. He skirted around Steve to peer out at Grace, who had Sulley on her lap. It was clear who was in charge there, watching as Grace’s hand stopped petting only to be nudged by an insistent cat. “You’ll do as well as she would.”

“I’ll strive to live up to Gracie’s standards. What do you need me to do?”

“Rinse and chiffonade the kale.” Seeing Steve mouth the word chiffonade, Danny put up a hand. “No commentary. Just cut it into thin strips.”

Danny pulled a garlic bulb from the sack of groceries he and Grace had brought and set to mincing a couple of cloves. He and Steve worked side by side, again in silence. It had been a while since one of their Saturday dinners, but here, like in the field, they were a good team. The best. 

“You know, it’s funny,” he said after a few minutes, thinking about how Grace’s mood shifted the longer she interacted with Sulley today. How there was something so pure about the connection between them that they both benefited. “It was Grace who suggested the cat would really be good for you to have around. She heard how animals were used as therapy for vets and in nursing homes and put the pieces together. You have to admit, it worked for you, and now here Grace is reaping what she has sown.”

This time when Steve’s shoulders became rigid, they stayed that way. No one standing so close to him would have missed it. Danny looked up from the garlic, his own task forgotten so that now he matched the utter stillness which had overcome his partner. Steve stared at him with a very odd expression on his face, slightly pale. 

“Steve?”

Steve put the knife down with deliberate care and turned his body toward Danny. He took a tiny step, even further into Danny’s space than they already had been. Instinctually for self-preservation, Danny edged away and kept edging until he had nowhere to go. He pressed against the oven. The heat of the pot of cooking quinoa radiated into his lower back, the slightly grassy smell of it making him queasy. Or that might be caused by the look Steve still had pinned on him.

“Danny,” Steve said slowly. “I know you had an impressive number of solved cases under your belt back in New Jersey and everyone knows you do stellar work here, but if you think the _cat_ has been responsible for me finding equilibrium in my life, then you are not as good a detective as you appear to be on paper.”

“What?”

“Danny.” Steve’s features softened into fondness so familiar. “Think about what came with the cat.”

“Fleas?”

“You and Grace, at my house like you belonged. It wasn’t every day, but it was everything to me,” Steve said. “When I was in North Korea last year, I really was thinking of you the whole time. And Japan? I was thinking of the family I’d finally found. You and Grace and, yes, Sulley too.”

“But … Catherine?”

“But _you_ , Danny, you idiot.” 

Then Steve’s hands were buffeting either side of his head, callused and huge, thumbs brushing against his temples. For the briefest of seconds, Steve studied him as if looking for something. 

Danny turned his attention away from that steady gaze, those freaking beautiful eyes, and instead looked at Steve’s mouth. That was apparently all it took, because Steve pressed his lips to Danny’s, tentative, testing the waters. Danny was confused, okay, he seriously was, but this? This felt good and right and when he softened into the kiss, Steve opened his lips ever so slightly. Danny gave in to the impulse to do the same, lifting his hands and resting them on Steve’s waist. Danny’s mind whirled impossibly, thoughts of kale and garlic, of Grace sitting just on the other side of a wall and of doing this with Steve forever.

They might have accomplished that, or gotten closer to that goal, had the kitchen not started to reek like charred quinoa and a high-pitched meow warned them of impending cat.

H50H50H50

Danny was a happy man. He had prevented Rachel and Stan from taking his girl away from him. He hadn’t had any near-death experiences in at least two months. And he had Steve.

The sound of the waves no longer bothered him. He supposed that might have something to do with acclimation, but he was inclined to believe it had more to do with the other noises he’d come to enjoy before falling into blissful sleep. The barely-there moan, pleasure muffled by years of necessitated practice. The rustle of skin against bed sheets. The murmured recitation of his name over and over and other, nonsensical sighs of encouragement. The harsh inhales and exhales of their breathing. Danny was responsible for all of those things and he reveled in the power he had to turn Steve into this mass of need and want. He basked in the knowledge that Steve trusted him to do this for him.

The salt on his tongue was not that of the ocean. Danny licked gently at Steve’s inner thigh, his arms winding up, hands pressed against hips to maintain control when Steve jolted. He made his way slowly, loved to drive Steve to frantic hisses and tugs at his hair and shoulders, and smiled as he finally reached the crown of Steve’s cock. He licked his lips, sparing a glance up to Steve, who was propped up on a mound of pillows, legs spread wide so Danny could sprawl between them. The night was hot, sweat glistened on Steve’s chest and he had a brief, ridiculous thought of how stupidly sexy Steve was like this, lips swollen from kissing, so desperate for it he was shaking, straining to keep from surging forward. 

Danny smiled. This man made him so, so happy he never wanted to quit smiling, not here in this bed. Out there in the world, he’s put on a show, scowl and complain about how trying it was to have Steve as a partner. But here? Here was where it was real. His smile softened at the way Steve’s eyes sought his, entreaty in them. Then he bent and took Steve in his mouth, relaxing his throat and going deep right from the gate. He knew what Steve liked. He vaguely heard the thud of Steve’s head against the headboard, and it spurred him on. He repositioned his right arm, losing a bit of the control he had on Steve’s hips. He gagged when Steve jerked up, but that was fine by him, as it gave him a little more room. His right hand trailed to cup Steve’s balls gently while he continued to work Steve’s cock, sucking and swirling his tongue just so. He always got caught up in this, giving Steve pleasure and rendering him mindless with it, to the point he only needed the slight friction of his dick against the sheets to come himself. 

He was in such a zone now that at first he thought the tickle against his right cheek was Steve’s hair. All of a sudden, he felt tiny puffs of air and, through the blood rushing in his ears, heard the rapid snuffles. Danny cracked his eyes open, shifted slightly and then froze for a second. Reaction kicked in then. Conscious of his teeth and the delicate mouthful he had, he nevertheless reared up and away, much to Steve’s dismay. 

“Danny,” Steve groaned. “Don’t, don’t you dare.”

Danny crawled up close and gave Steve a quick, sloppy kiss. Steve chased after him when he withdrew, stopped only when Danny put a hand on his shoulder.

“The door didn’t latch all the way,” Danny said, hiccupping back a laugh.

The befuddled, sex-stupid look on Steve’s face broke the dam. Danny started laughing, then. He couldn’t help it – there on the bed with them, up close and very personal, was Sulley. Her eyes glowed bright gold in what little light there was coming in through the window, making her look otherworldly. He gestured to her. Steve’s eyes tracked the direction he’d indicated, then he also choked back a laugh. At the sound of their mirth, Sulley went from seeming extremely fascinated by their nocturnal maneuvers to flopping dramatically on her side, then rolling to expose her belly and giving them a hopeful chirrup. 

It was only after the first time they’d had sex, limbs entwined and drowsing in a post-coital haze, that they’d realized Sulley had taken up a perch on the dresser and was staring at them rather impassively. For all they knew, she’d been there the whole time watching them with her creepy cat stare. 

Clearly, she’d overcome her reticence.

“Nope.” Danny, shaky and still amped up from being so fucking close to coming despite the distraction, scooped her up and awkwardly scrambled off of the bed with her squirming and clawing to get free. “Not tonight, my furry little friend.”

He set her on the floor, gave her a stern frown and a finger point, then firmly shut the door. He made sure it clicked. To be on the safe side, Danny engaged the lock. He turned around, discovered Steve had followed him to the door. Before he could say boo, Steve attached his mouth to Danny’s like a lamprey and they leaned against the door for several seconds, kissing and touching. They were too keyed up for more foreplay, though. Danny growled deep in his throat and Steve took the hint, pulled him back to the bed. At the last second, Steve spun to reverse their positions and gave Danny a gentle push. 

“Change of plans,” Steve said as he reached for the lube and condoms in the night table. 

Danny thought it would probably be catty of him to object.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise - I am working on fixing my habit of ending on an OSS (obligatory sex scene). I really am. ;)


End file.
